Flags of Convenience:
The largest shipping registries are Panama, Liberia, Greece, Marshall Islands and the Bahamas,
Approximately 6,300 sail under the Panamanian flag, making Panama the largest. The Greek-controlled fleet is at almost 90 million gross tons.
The Marshall Islands is fourth with 1, 500 vessels and 37 million tons. Bahamas has 1,500 vessels at 27 million tons.
Other significant flags include Cyprus and Malta

31.12.11

There were three blasts, December 29, - boom, boom, boom - so the people were in panic. The tanker PREM DIVYA IMO 9138599, had arrived in Fujairah on December 27 for 10 days of "operational care". Workers from local firms had come to check the pipes and do welding in the engine room and other repairs and maintenance.

Ships must receive gas-free approvals before commencing any "hot work", or activities that could start a fire, such as welding, Capt Morad said. "We already got that, so what went wrong, we don't know. Any tanker that has gas in it should be made free of gas before any welding or hot work takes place."

Soon after the explosion late on Thursday afternoon many of the men on board leapt into the water. Neighbouring ships and the coastguard arrived to help them to safety, and the port authorities sent a crew to put out the fire. Empty oil tankers are susceptible to having residual flammable gas on board - even more so than on full tankers, where the gas has less area in which to expand. readmore

29.12.11

The size of the ransom of the Italian aframax tanker Savina Caylyn induced the group's leaders to release all hostages including 17 indians

Enrico Ievoli

“MT Enrico Ievoli, sailing from Fujairah (the UAE) was carrying 15,750 tonnes of caustic soda from the United Arab Emirates to the Mediterranean, was captured approximately 215 nautical miles East by Northeast of Salalah at 0403UTC. With a crew of 18 comprising of six Italians, five Ukrainians and seven Indians, it is owned by Marnavi of Naples in Italy. http://www.timesofoman.com/innercat.asp?detail=53194&rand=

The fire now put out. Wooden scaffolding around K-84 caught fire.The blaze soon spread to the submarine's rubber-coated outer hull. Firefighters were still working at the scene, pouring water over the outer hull as well as the space between it and the inner hull,

The blaze at the Roslyakovo dock, one of the main dockyards of Russia's northern fleet 1,500 km (900 miles) north of Moscow, is believed to have started when wooden scaffolding caught fire during repairs to the submarine Yekaterinburg, which some Russian news agencies said had been hoisted into a dry dock.

In the novel Ice by James Follett a Delta II class submarine called the Podorny is dispatched to the South Atlantic to search for a missing British submarine.[20]In the pilot movie for seaQuest DSV a heavily modified Delta IV was being operated by pirates, led by former seaQuest captain Marilyn Stark.In the video game Crysis Warhead, the player character incorrectly identifies a cargo submarine as a Project 914 Delta IV class. The submarine in question has the missile bay removed and replaced with a large cargo bay.In Terminator Salvation: Cold War, Dmitri Losenko commanded a Delta IV-class submarine called the Gorshkov. When the US launches an attack on Russia the Gorshkov launches an attack on Alaska.

26.12.11

A South Korean polar research ship on December 26 reached Sparta, a leaking Russian fishing vessel that has been stuck in the frigid waters off Antarctica for the past 10 days. The crews are trying to pump fuel out of the damaged boat so that the leak may be welded shut.

25.12.11

The Mercosur declaration, under which the bloc's four full members vowed "to adopt … all the measures it is possible to impose to impede the entry of boats flying the illegal flag of the Malvinas [Falkland] Islands."The Falkland Islands has operated its own register since 1861.

On 15 September 2003, a four-part register arrangement similar to that operated in the United Kingdom was commenced when the Falkland Islands adopted Parts I and II of the UK Merchant Shipping Act 1995 (with modifications).

The Register is ordinarily restricted to merchant vessels not exceeding a gross tonnage of 150, fishing vessels and small ships whose owners or charterers have a connection with the Falkland Islands and except in the case of the latter, all applications to register require the approval of the Governor. Argentina's increasingly vocal stance on the Falklands was partly a helpful sideshow from domestic political issues, including subsidy cuts and inflation.

"This issue has historically been used quite a bit by Argentinian presidents when they want to distract the public," said a Houston expert

The ship carrying missiles bound for South Korea that was detained in Finland over Christmas has run into more problems at the port of Kiel in Germany. The ship's crew is once again facing questions over secure storage of its cargo.A representative of Kiel police told local media January 12 that they are inspecting the explosives in containers onboard. The same issue caused a lengthy inspection and re-loading operation at Kotka harbour.[earlier]Reloading of explosives onboard the impounded Thor Liberty vessel in Kotka resumed on Sunday. Rescue officials say the operation could continue well into December 26. More of the poorly loaded explosives were confiscated on Sunday but work is proceeding without any major problems. So far some 250 kilos of explosives have been confiscated from the ship and will be destroyed later.

The “Thor Liberty,” belonging to a Danish company, flying a British Isle of Man flag, and manned by a Ukrainian crew, was stopped Wednesday during a routine check at the southern Finnish port of Kotka. German media reports say the missiles were marked as “fireworks.”

The high-tech weapons were reportedly loaded onto the ship at Papenburg, on the River Eems, 40km inland from the North Sea, not far from Vörden, once a a Nike Hercules AA missile site.. The export permission documents were registered at the customs office in Emden, in the state of Lower Saxony. back

24.12.11

Transocean's drilling services contract with Chevron for the SEDCO 706 requires Chevron, among other things, to indemnify Transocean for pollution or contamination based claims arising below the surface of the water. more

23.12.11

A South Korean icebreaker berthed in New Zealand set sail last Saturday night and is due to reach the troubled Russian-flagged Sparta in Antarctic ice on Sunday afternoon, The Sparta’s owners have chartered the RV Araon, a South Korean icebreaker, to aid the stricken shipThe RV Araon is a 6,950-ton icebreaker operated by the Government of South Korea, designed for operation in one-meter-thick-multiple-year ice condition (KR PL-10) with 3 knot speed per hour and will be equipped with twin Azimuth propulsion units driven by diesel-electric propulsion plant. She will accommodate up to 85 persons, including 25 crew members. The name is derived from Korean words “Ara” for Sea and “On” for All and represents a project to cruise around the world. She supplies the King Sejong Station and will supply a South Korea’s second planned antartcic research station. She underwent her sea trials in January 2010, in the Ross Sea.

21.12.11

The paperwork of the freight vessel Thor Liberty, which was found to have explosives and missiles on board when it docked at Kotka Harbour, is in order, said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). On Wednesday, Minister of the Interior Päivi Räsänen (Christ. Dem.) was still saying that the bill of lading claimed that the containers, which were loaded with Patriot ground-to-air missiles, had been labelled as fireworks. However, it came out later that this was a linguistic misunderstanding involving the words “rocket” and “missile”. “There was no attempt in the documents to mislead in any way”, says Detective Superintendent Timo Virtanen of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Seoul (AFP) Dec 20, 2006 As part of its independent system South Korea has announced plans to buy 48 second-hand Patriot missiles from Germany from 2008. It also wants ground control equipment for the Patriots from the US.

[December 22] A Isle of Man-flag cargo vessel detained at Kotka harbour has been found to be carrying a shipment of American-made Patriot missiles. According to information received by YLE, the missile shipment originated in Germany and is destined for South Korea. Onboard the ship are 69 of the missiles with their explosive warheads and propelling chargessale of missiles to South KoreaSEOUL (AFP) Jul 13, 2005A German defense chief met with South Korean officials here Wednesday for talks on the sale of second-hand Patriot missiles to Seoul, the defense ministry said.Klaus Von Sperber, director of international armament affairs in Germany's defense ministry, visited Defense Miniser Yoon Kwang-Ung and other Korean military officials, Yoon's office said.

Sperber arrived here earlier Wednesday for a two-day trip.

"The German official is in Seoul for talks on the sale of Patriot missiles deployed in his country," a ministry official said.

South Korea last week revived a project to buy Patriot missiles, but a decision on whether to buy missiles directly from the United States or second-hand ones from other countries has yet to be taken.

From next year, South Korea hopes to replace its aging ground-to-air Nike missiles, introduced 40 years ago, with Patriot missiles.

The ransom was delivered December 21 in two trips by helo , 8.5 million and a second later in the day. The pirates did not release the vessel until all payment was made, The pirates' freed 17 Indian sailors after receiving an initial sum of $ 8.5 million, ". "It was a tactic of the owner to ensure that Indian nationals were freed." After receiving the money, "launched from a helicopter," the Indians were released on small boats. Then "another 3 million have been launched and we left the ship and released the five Italians," more

20.12.11

Both men, who have name suppression, appeared in Tauranga District Court today and faced a new charge alleging they altered the ship's documents after it crashed into the Astrolabe reef, attempting to pervert the course of justice.

The charges were laid under the Crimes Act and could see the men facing jail time.

Corrupting juries and witnessesEvery one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who—(a) dissuades or attempts to dissuade a person, by threats, bribes, or other corrupt means, from giving evidence in any cause or matter (whether civil or criminal, and whether tried or to be tried in New Zealand or in an overseas jurisdiction); or(b) influences or attempts to influence, by threats or bribes or other corrupt means, a member of a jury in his or her conduct as such (whether in a cause or matter tried or to be tried in New Zealand or in an overseas jurisdiction, and whether the member has been sworn as a member of a particular jury or not); or(c) accepts any bribe or other corrupt consideration to abstain from giving evidence (whether in a cause or matter tried or to be tried in New Zealand or in an overseas jurisdiction); or(d) accepts any bribe or other corrupt consideration on account of his or her conduct as a member of a jury (whether in a cause or matter tried or to be tried in New Zealand or in an overseas jurisdiction, and whether the member has been sworn as a member of a particular jury or not); or(e) wilfully attempts in any other way to obstruct, prevent, pervert, or defeat the course of justice in New Zealand or the course of justice in an overseas jurisdiction.

Both were remanded at large to reappear in Tauranga District Court on February 29.

18.12.11

Rescuers have recovered 14 survivors and located 16 bodies so far. 37 crew members still missing[earlier] Three lifeboats the rescuers found soon after at the scene were empty. One lifeboat remained unaccounted for by search and rescue teams, who held hopes it could be found with survivors on board. It was located on Monday, but was also empty. Rescue workers have found a raft with up to 15 people aboard near an offshore Russian drilling rig that capsized in the Sea of Okhotsk - but it was unclear if they were alive, more

[earlier]"The Kolskaya keeled to its side ... and sank within 20 minutes. The depth of the water at the site is 1,042 metres (3,400 feet)," Russia's federal water transport agency said on its website.

Four of the survivors, suffering from hypothermia, were airlifted by helicopter to land and taken to hospital after the disaster struck at 12:45 p.m. (0145 GMT). [earlier]The rescue operation is continuing despite night having fallen. The Emergencies Ministry says 14 people have been saved and four found dead. Rescuers had problems with lifting the dead bodies from the water and had to leave them floating in the sea until the storm, which sank the rig, calmed down a little,The drilling rig belongs to the Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka exploration company, which carried out work under a contract with energy giant Gazprom.

The drilling rig, which can take up to 102 people on board, was built in 1985 in Finland. The rig started its operations in September to drill and test the Pervoocherednaya well on the West-Kamchatka licensed block of the Okhotsk Sea shelf.

The rig, which is 69 meters long and 80 meters wide, was intended to drill a well at a depth of 3,500 meters.

A Gazprom spokesman said that the rig had fulfilled its works for Gazprom by the time of the accident and was heading for its base.

Investigators have said they are considering the rig's tow in disregard of a severe storm as the most likely reason for the accident.

The 'Neftegaz-55' tugboat, also owned by AMNGR, had been towing the Kolskaya rig and took part in the search effort, but pulled out after suffering hull damage. The tug, carrying 11 crew rescued from the rig, was limping to port.

16.12.11

videovideoThe 48-metre (157ft) long Sparta is licensed to catch toothfish in the Southern Ocean. Russian fishing vessel Sparta is seen listing in waters in the Ross Sea near Antarctica on Dec. 16, 2011. The fishing vessel with 32 crew members were taking on water near Antarctica on Friday. Heavy sea ice was hampering rescue efforts, and officials said it could be four or five days before anybody reaches the ship to try to rescue the crew. Dec.17

9.12.11

Hong Kong-listed CNOOC and international partners including Canada's Husky Energy Inc [under Ka-Shing Li] and U.S. company Chevron Corp will step up exploration of the deepsea waters in the South China Sea in coming years, with the first major production from the Liwan gas project operated by Husky.

The companies would mostly drill in the northern part of the South China Sea, industry officials and analysts have said, staying away from politically sensitive waters to the south to avoid territorial rows with neighbors such as Vietnam and the Phillippines.

"981 will start drilling late this month or in January," said a company official, referring to the country's first and only homemade deepsea rig Offshore Oil 981, which is designed to operate at a water depth of 3,000 metres and to drill up to 10,000 metres.

7.12.11

The daily media conference for the Rena disaster finished Dec 1 and will become a weekly conference unless the situation changes. There are 1115 containers still on board"We are now soliciting support from various sectors of the [Filipino] society, especially the maritime industry, to join us in lodging a nation-wide protest action to prevent Capt. Balomanga and his watch officer from being incarcerated. 12 months imprisonment should not be a penalty for a navigational error.' here

6.12.11

Filings are starting before trial among BP and the contractors Halliburton and Transocean over blame in the Deepwater Horizon blast in April 2010, which killed 11 workers and led to 206m US gallons (780m litres) of crude oil escaping into the Gulf of Mexico. So far, BP, the majority owner of the Macondo well, has footed the bill for the emergency response and cleanup. Also involved are Anadarko Petroleum and Cameron International.here

The first trial over the disaster is scheduled to start 27 February in New Orleans. It is expected to last three months and determine the liability of each company involved in drilling the Macondo well. There will be other phases over cleanup costs, punitive damages and other claims.